


Predestination

by talesofsinsandmonsters



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: A lot of sex, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Consensual Underage Sex, Cunnilingus, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, Fingering, Kidnapping, Light Dom/sub, Loss of Virginity, Oral Sex, Overstimulation, Sex, Sex Toys, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, a lot of OCs - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-10-19
Packaged: 2019-05-07 10:24:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14669079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/talesofsinsandmonsters/pseuds/talesofsinsandmonsters
Summary: Everyone in the Universe has a Soulmate that they're destined to find. Sometimes you find them right away, sometimes you never do. Its usually a hard road to find your perfect other half, but it's always worth it in the end.Part 1: Captain America, the First Avenger





	1. Part 1: The First Avenger: Chapter 1

Steve Rogers thought he was destined to die all alone.

  


Everyone on the planet, no matter who they were or what they did, had some way of identifying their Soulmate. Whether it be markings on their skin, names scrawled across their hearts or someone else’s thoughts in their heads, everyone had a way to find their better half.

  


Everyone except Steve.

  


His mother had had to sit him down one night and explain that sometimes someone’s Soulmate dies before they meet. She told him there’s a sharp pain in your gut, and a constant dull throbbing in your chest.

  


Steve had seen it happen. One day, when he was five, his mother and her friend were having tea. Conversation had been easy, as it always was, when suddenly Judy Roe gasped and clutched at her face and her chest.

  


She screamed, hysterical tears already falling down her face. Steve’s mother had immediately stood and gone to phone the authorities, positive something had happened to Judy’s husband. Steve found out a week later Arnold Roe had died in a factory accident.

  


Another time, the little boy in the apartment next door started wailing, and he didn’t stop. When the doctor was called, he said the boy’s Soulmate had likely died of fever or some such malady. Steve never even knew what the kid’s Soulmark had been.

  


But Steve knew his Soulmate hadn’t died. He didn’t feel any pain, other than from his own medical issues. He didn’t feel  _ anything _ . No, she wasn’t dead. She just didn’t exist.

  


It was one of the reasons he didn’t mind volunteering for the army(or trying to, anyway). He didn’t have anyone left to miss him if he died. Except maybe Bucky, but Bucky had already enlisted, and was set to deploy in the morning, so Steve had nobody at all.

  


This is what Steve Rogers thought as he stared at his reflection in the mirrored surface of a faceless soldier. A heavy hand landed on his shoulder and spun him around, bringing him face to face with his best friend, James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes.

  


“You know, I don’t think you quite understand the concept of a double date,” Bucky told him, giving his shoulder a squeeze. “We’re taking the girls dancing.”

  


Steve cast a look back towards the recruitment booth, then back up at Bucky.

  


“You go ahead, I’ll catch up with you.”

  


Bucky took a deep breath, closing his eyes, praying for patience. “You’re really going to do this again?”

  


“Well, it’s a fair, I’m going to try my luck.”

  


“As who, Steve from Ohio? They’ll catch you, or worse, they’ll actually take you.”

  


Steve fought off the hurt he felt at Bucky’s words. “Look, I know you don’t think I can do this-”

  


“This isn’t a back alley, Steve, it’s war!”

  


“I know it’s a war!”

  


The boys were so caught up in their argument that they didn’t notice the elderly gentleman listening in, his hand on the forearm of a young woman with long, dark brown hair, stopping her from walking in the direction they’d been walking.

  


“Why are you so keen to fight? There’s so many important jobs!”

  


“What do you want me to do? Collect scrap metal in my little red wagon?”

  


“Yes! Why not?”

  


“I’m not going to sit in a factory, Bucky-  _ Bucky _ ,” Steve said sharply, as he saw his best friend opening his mouth to argue some more. “Come on, there are men laying down their lives. I got no right to do any less than them. That’s what you don’t understand. This isn’t about me.”

  


“Right. ‘Cuz you got nothing to prove. You got no Soulmate so you gotta go waste your life.”

  


“It’s what you did, isn’t it?”

  


Bucky’s jaw tightened, and he grabbed his left wrist, rubbing at the small Soulmark of a planet, moon and stars that rested there, the mark the faded gray of a deceased Soulmate. Bucky’s Mark had always been that way.

  


At the words, “no Soulmate,” the young woman’s head swung around to look at Steve, though she and her companion continued to go unnoticed.

  


“Hey, Sarge!” Bucky’s date for the evening called from outside the the booth, “Are we going dancing or what?!”

  


“Yes we are!” Bucky called back, giving her a grin that dropped as soon as he looked back at Steve again. “Don’t do anything stupid until I get back,” he warned. Steve smiled slightly.

  


“How can I?” he countered, “You’re taking all the stupid with you.”

  


Bucky cracked, his lips twisting upwards, coming forward to hug his best friend. “You’re a punk.”

  


“Jerk,” Steve replied, patting his back firmly. “Be careful.”

  


“Yeah,” Bucky agreed, retreating backwards towards the girls.

  


“Don’t win the war until I get there.”

  


Bucky cracked another grin and saluted Steve, before turning and jogging back to the girls. Steve watched him go, before sighing and walking towards the recruitment desk to get his papers.

  


The elderly man looked to his companion and indicated the direction Steve had walked off in. “Genevieve,” he said patting her arm gently. “I think I should like to see that young man’s files.”

  


Genevieve gave the man a curious look. “Are you sure, doc? He doesn’t look like much.”

  


“Test him, then, if you’re worried.”

  


Genevieve looked off after Steve, narrowing her eyes slightly. “I think I might.”

  


***

  


Genevieve slipped through the curtained area to see the man sitting on a table with his shoes off, and a doctor going over his papers. They both looked up to see her standing there, and the doctor stood up tall.

  


“Excuse me, miss, but you shouldn’t be in here.”

  


“Leave, please,” Genevieve was looking down at the file in her hands.  _ Steven Grant Rogers _ .

  


“What?” Now the doctor was bristling with slight anger. “You leave or I’ll have to-”

  


Genevieve’s hazel eyes met the doctor’s brown ones and she spoke in a way that compelled the man to listen. “Get out.”

  


He was walking through the curtains in the next instant. Genevieve watched him go, before taking a seat across from Steve.

  


“Ma’am?” Steve asked, after several moment of awkward silence. Genevieve didn’t answer, instead jotting down how long it had taken him to break the silence. He waited a few more minutes before “Am I in trouble?”

  


“Not yet,” Genevieve responded. She skimmed through his previous medical files. Her face scrunched in confusion. “Why not your medical history?”

  


“Pardon?”

  


“You only ever lie about where you’re from? Why not lie about your medical history, too?”

  


“They’d figure it out during the exam anyway.” Steve shrugged. Genevieve glanced up, skimming her eyes over Steve’s lanky frame a few times. He felt his cheeks heating up in response to a pretty girl looking at him the way she was. She looked back down at the files in her lap.

  


“We can fix that,” she muttered, more to herself than to Steve, jotting more notes down. She reached over and rubbed her arm, frowning slightly. Steve watched the woman with curious eyes. If he had to venture a guess, he’d say she didn’t know she was touching her arm at all.

  


“What’s your name?” He asked, tensing when she looked back up at him. Her eyes made him feel strange, like he’d do anything she asked him to. When she narrowed her eyes at him, he scrambled for an explanation. “It’s just that- well, you seem to know my name, and I’d...like to know...yours?” He finished feebly.

  


“Coulson,” she replied, after a few moments of tense silence. She continued to rub her arm. “My name is Genevieve Coulson, I’m with the Strategic Scientific Reserve.”

  


“Are you alright, Ms. Coulson?”

  


“Why do you ask?”

  


“Your arm.”

  


Genevieve looked down and saw, finally, what she was doing. Kid was observant, she’d give him that.

  


“Fine. Just fine. Why do you want to join the army so bad. What makes you want to fight?” Steve opened his mouth to answer and Genevieve held up a hand to stall him. “And don’t give me that crap about not having the right to do less then the folks already out there. It’s a suicide mission for you to go to war and I think you already know that, so tell me something different.”

  


Steve looked down at his hands, thinking of his words carefully. Genevieve waited patiently, resting her chin in her hand.

  


“There’s nobody here to miss me,” he said, swallowing thickly. “No parents, no siblings. All I got is my best friend, and he’s shipping out in the morning. Least I can do is protect the people that do have someone left to love, ya’know?”

  


“What about a Soulmate? Maybe you just haven’t found them yet?”

  


Steve shrugged, not wanting to get into the “Doomed to die alone” conversation with a stranger. Genevieve looked him up and down again.

  


“I see,” she said, jotting down a final note. She stood up and approached him in three strides, taking his sharp chin in her hand and making him look into her eyes. Steve, instantly, was under her spell. “Stay here. And relax. You’re not going to get in any trouble.”

  


Steve nodded, and watched Genevieve leave, feeling compelled to sit and relax like she’d told him to. Genevieve closed the curtain behind her, handing the file over to Dr. Abraham Erskine.

  


“Well?” He wondered. Genevieve gave Steve’s cubical a glance before shrugging. “He’s more than he appears to be,” she admitted, “so I vote yes.”

  


“Excellent!” Erskine cheered, and moved to have his own conversation with Steve. Genevieve frowned slightly, pulling back her sleeve, and watching the timer on her wrist, the red negative number growing larger by the second.

  


“No Soulmate, huh?” she let her sleeve fall again. “Imagine that.”


	2. Part 1: The First Avenger: Chapter 2

“Recruits! Attention!” 

Steve straightened rim-rod straight, feet together, arms pressed tightly to his sides. The voice was female, and slightly accented, which made him curious, though he didn’t dare try to sneak a look at the woman. Soon enough, she moved in front of the recruits, followed by a familiar sight. Genevieve Coulson, with her hair- which had been down around her shoulders last Steve had seen her- was braided and laying over one shoulder. The outfit she wore told Steve that she was, in no way, a soldier. A fighter, maybe, but not a soldier.

She was wearing a  _ dress _ on the training grounds. It was black, with a white lace sailor style collar like he’d seen on the girls Bucky dated, and it came down to just below her stocking covered knees. On her feet were a pair of black t-strap heels. She carried a stack of clipboards in her arms, and a pen was stuck behind her ear. At her hip was a messenger bag. It was this sight that made Steve realize that maybe she wasn’t even a fighter. She looked more like a secretary than anything.

As though she could read his mind, Genevieve looked up at him, eyes intense. And then she smiled. He felt his lips lifting in response. It was nice to see a pretty, familiar face.

“Gentleman, my name is Agent Carter. I supervise all operations for this division. This here is Agent Genevieve Coulson. I suggest you get on her good side, because she’s the one that will help decide where you go, in the end.” Agent Carter and Genevieve glanced at each other, clearly knowing something the rest of them did not.

“What’s with the Accent, Queen Victoria?” A recruit spoke up, a few men down from Steve. Steve frowned, instantly disliking the man. He hated bullies. “Thought I was signing up for the US army. Didn’t know they let a couple’a birds like you onto the field.”

“What’s your name, soldier?” Agent Carter asked, turning to face him.

“Gilmore Hodge, Your Majesty.”

“Step forward, Hodge.” As he did so, Agent Carter gestured to Genevieve, who handed the soldier at the head of the line the stack of clipboards.

“Take one and pass the rest down,” she said, and then moved to stand in front of Hodge.

Hodge smirked down at Genevieve, who was several inches, possibly a full foot, shorter, “We gonna rassle? Cuz I got a few moves I  _ know _ you’ll like.” He made a kissing noise at Genevieve, and Steve felt a slow rage building in his stomach. His mother had taught him better than to treat women the way Hodge was treating Genevieve and Agent Carter. He wanted to step in, but he was curious as to what she’d do.

She did not disappoint.

“Right foot forward, please.”

As Hodge stepped forward some more, Genevieve crouched, swiped out her leg and took his feet out from under him, then stood back up, spun on those t-strap heels of hers and kicked him in the jaw, sending him face first into the dirt.

Steve released a silent snicker. Honestly, it served Hodge right. Steve grinned at Genevieve as she dusted off the skirt of her dress. She was more than just a secretary after all.

“Ladies!” Both Agent Carter and Genevieve turned to the man who was climbing out of a truck, his eyes sweeping back and forth along the line. 

“Colonel Phillips.” Agent Carter greeted, saluting him briefly.

“I see you’re breaking in the new recruits! That’s good.” He eyed Hodge, who remained face-down in the dirt, and quickly figured what had happened. “Get your ass out of the dirt and stand up in that line at attention until someone tells you what to do.”

“Yes sir!” Hodge stood quickly, wincing as he placed weight on his now sore ankles.

Phillips looked along the line again, before taking a deep breath and pacing along the length of it. “General Patton has said that wars are fought with weapons but they are won by men, We are going to with this war because we have the best...men.” He’d caught sight of Steve. He gave Genevieve a scathing look, knowing her part in this whole experiment. She shrugged, and he moved his eyes to give a similar look to Dr. Erskine. “And because they are going to get better. Much better.

“The Strategic Scientific Reserve is an allied effort made up of the best minds in the free world. Our goal is to create the best goddamn army in history. But, every army starts with one man. At the end of this week, we will choose that man. He will be the first in a new breed of super-soldier. And they will personally escort Adolf Hitler to the gates of Hell. Understood?!”

A chorus of, “Sir, Yes sir!” sounded loudly, and Phillips gave one firm nod.

“Good! Then, I will defer you to Agents Carter and Coulson. Agents.”

Agent Carter stepped once again. “Right then. Let’s begin, shall we? We’ll start with paperwork you were handed...”

***

Over the course of the week, Genevieve observed every one of the soldiers. Having worked with Dr. Erskine for several years, she knew what the man was looking for in his candidate, and so she was tasked with ranking them by most eligible to least eligible. 

She found herself watching Steve most often. He was the shortest, weakest and slowest candidate. She found herself taking off points left and right. She also found, though, that every time she took a point away, she was able to give it right back. Every time he fell, he got right back up again. If he failed, he’d start over and try again. He stopped to help people if they managed to fall behind. And he was smart, and selfless, and kind, and brave, and  _ those _ were the qualities Erskine was looking for.

On this day, she found herself sitting in the back of a jeep with Peggy Carter and an MP in the front, waiting for the soldiers to come running to their position. It wasn’t long at all until she heard the pounding of booted feet along the dirt pathway, and not too long after that, the soldiers huddled around a flagpole.

“That flag means we’re only at the halfway point!” The Instructor informed them. “First man to bring it to me gets a ride back with the ladies.”

These words sparked a mad scramble to get up the pole, Hodge in the lead, pushing others out of the way. Genevieve’s eyes sought out Steve, standing on the outside of the mob, looking the flagpole up and down. She smiled to herself, knowing he’d figured out the secret. One by one, each man fell from the pole, landing hard on their asses.

“If that’s all you got, this army’s in trouble!” The instructor heckled. “Nobody’s got that flag in 17 years! Everyone fall in!” Everyone, with the exception of Steve, got back into formation and prepared to start running again. When the instructor noticed Steve still standing at the flagpole, he snapped, “Rogers! I said fall in!”

“He can do it. Let him try.”

All heads shot to Genevieve, who wasn’t even looking up, busy tallying marks next to everyone’s names.

The instructor rolled his eyes. “Alright then, we’ll watch Rogers fail. Go on, Rogers!”

Steve didn’t pay any mind to the insults, instead reaching down to pull the bolts that held the pole to it’s base, making it fall to the ground with a loud clatter. He grabbed the flag and thrust it into the instructor’s hands with a smug, “Sir,” and then moved to sit next to Genevieve, who was equally as smug. She made a show of placing a point next to his name, just to make him laugh, but also to show him that he was now tied with Hodge.

“Good job, Steve,”

“Thank you, Ma’am.”

***

“The two of you aren’t actually thinking about choosing Rogers, are you?” Colonel Phillips asked, as he, Erskine and Genevieve moved through the training field.

“I wasn’t just thinking about it, he is the clear choice.” Erskine replied, shaking Genevieve’s data at Phillips. The Colonel ignored the paper with a wave of his hand.

“When you brought a 90-pound asthmatic onto my army base, I let it slide, I thought, what the hell, maybe he’d be useful to you, like a gerbil. Maybe something for your little mutant to play with. I never thought you’d pick him.” The stopped on a truck filled with training equipment, including blank bullets and dummy grenades, though only Phillips knew that. In front of them, Steve and his squad were being led though exercises by Peggy Carter. Steve was struggling, to say the least, sucking in heavy breaths of air into his broken lungs. “You stick a needle in that boy’s arm, it’ll go right through him. I mean look at him, he’s making me cry.”

“I am looking for qualities beyond the physical,” Erskine explained, not for the first time. “It is why I had Genevieve watching the training proceedings.”

“Do you know how long it took to set up this project? All the grovelling I had to do in front of Senator What’s-his-name’s committee?”

“Brandt. Yes, I know. I am well aware of your efforts.”

“Then throw me a bone. Hodge passed every test we gave him. He’s big, he’s fast, he obeys orders. He’s a soldier.”

“He also goes out of his way to treat someone like they’re below him, especially women, and he’s also a bit of a cheater.” Genevieve pointed out. “He’s a thug, and a bully.”

“You don’t win wars with niceness, Princess.” Phillips ignored how Genevieve’s features twisted at the name, and grabbed a grenade from the back of the truck. As he pulled the pin, he said, “You win wars with guts.” He threw the grenade into the center of the group of soldiers, “Grenade!”

There was a mad scramble. Genevieve took several steps forward toward the grenade as men dove left and right to get out of the blast zone, as did Peggy. It was Steve who got there first, diving onto the explosive and curling his body around it.

“Get away!” He cried, waving one arm towards the others, his eyes clenched tight in preparation of the explosion. “Get back!”

There was silence and stillness. No explosion. Genevieve released a slow breath as she realized the grenade was a fake. She placed her hand on her arm, rubbing at her Soulmark. Steve uncurled from his little ball, looking up to see Genevieve standing a few feet away from him, doing what he’d realized was her nervous habit. He knew she wasn’t aware she did it, and didn’t want others to be aware, so he reached out so she could help him stand. She blinked her hazel eyes in surprise when his hands appeared before her, but she gripped his forearms, and let him grip hers without complaint, and hauled him to his feet.

“Was this a test?”

“Yes,” she replied, “But it wasn’t meant for you.” With a smile and a squeeze of his arms which she still held, she looked back at Colonel Phillips. “Wars are won with guts? My guy’s got more guts than yours it seems.”

Phillips glanced over to Hodge, who stood cowering behind a truck, seemingly still waiting for the grenade to go off.

“Your guy’s still skinny,” Phillips huffed. Genevieve grinned and looked back at Steve.

“We can fix that,” she promised.


	3. Part 1: The First Avenger: Chapter 3

Steve sat at the foot of his bed, turning his bible over and over in his hands, preparing himself for the procedure he was set to have in the morning. It seemed after the dummy grenade test, his superiors had decided that he was the best candidate for the super-soldier program, after all. Dr. Erskine had been in to see him, telling him about Dr. Johann Schmidt, though he’d kept what the serum had done to himself. He either didn’t want to scare Steve, or he didn’t want to get his hopes up.

A gentle knock sounded, and Steve looked over he shoulder. He jumped to his feet when he saw Genevieve standing there, her hair once again loose around her shoulders in loose brown curls. Her dress tonight was a navy blue number with a big collar, and her shoes were her usual t-straps.

“Agent Coulson!” He said, back going impossibly straight.

“Easy, there, kid, you can call me Genevieve,” she indicated his room with her head. “Can I come in?”

“Huh?” Steve blinked hard, and felt a blush rise when he realized what a stupid reaction that was. He sat back down on his cot with a heavy thump and the screech of springs. “Uh, yeah! Yeah, of course!”

Genevieve smiled, exhaling a laugh through her nose. Steve’s eyes trailed her frame as she moved, taking in the fluidity of her movements, and how quiet she was, even in heeled shoes. She was built for stealth.

Instead of taking a seat on the bed across from him like Erskine had earlier, Genevieve sat on the bed right next to him.

“If you were looking for Dr. Erskine, you just missed him,” Steve said, wanting to clear the uncomfortable silence.

“I was looking for you.”

“Oh.”

More silence, as Steve tried to figure out how, exactly, to speak to a woman. He finally decided on asking the first thing that came to his mind. He wanted to know what had made her choose him for the program. What came out was, “Why am I your guy?”

“What?” Hazel eyes widened in surprise. Steve cursed himself. Why couldn’t he just say what he meant to say? Too late now, he needed to commit

“You told Colonel Phillips I was your guy, earlier. I was just wondering, you know, why me?”

Genevieve stayed quiet for a minute, eyes searching his face as she thought whether or not she should tell Steve her reasons. She figured the truth would just be easiest.

“You remind me of my Soulmate,” she said, leaning forward and rubbing at her Soulmark. Steve found his eyes drawn to the spot, the negative numbers ticking forwards, -94608000, -94608001, -94608002.  _ Three years.  _ He felt his heart stop. Genevieve continued on, staring at a spot between her feet. “You’re the same in attitude and mannerisms, always willing to help out someone that needs it, even if it puts your own life in danger.”

When he spoke, Steve’s voice was gentle. “How did it happen?”

“We were walking back from our anniversary dinner. We heard a struggle coming from an alley, so Finn left me to go investigate. It turned out to be a young man trying to assault a girl, and Finn interrupted. The man shot him, I guess for ruining his night or something, I never tried to figure out why. I was too busy trying to keep my husband from bleeding out. The guy didn’t even bother with me. He just ran. My clock started counting the negatives as soon as Finn stopped breathing.”

“I am so sorry.” Steve breathed. He wanted so badly to hug her, to let her know he was here for her, but he didn’t think it was appropriate.

“Anyway,” Genevieve wiped under her cheeks, not surprised to find the skin dry, and looked up at Steve. “You remind me of Finn, and Finn was the greatest man I ever knew. So I’m in your corner Steve. You’ll be hard pressed to get me out.”

“I think I need everyone I can get in my corner, so I’m glad for it. For you.” 

“Did Abraham tell you what the Serum does?” Genevieve asked, pulling her legs up under her on Steve’s bed.

“No. He told me his former partner had taken the Serum, but not what it had done to him, or what this completed Serum will do to me.”

“The Serum,” she spoke slowly to be sure Steve was following her, “enhances everything. Strength, senses, stamina, yes, but that isn’t all. It has the potential to make a person with a bad heart evil, and a person with a good heart can become great.”

“And which type of person am I?” Steve knew he wasn’t evil, but he couldn’t help but wonder what Genevieve thought of him. Genevieve smiled and placed her hand right over his heart.

“You, Steve Rogers, have a very good heart.”

Steve smiled back, placing his hand over hers.

“So do you, Genevieve.”

“Oh, if only, Steve. If only.”

***

“Think you can do that thing you do, Doll?” Steve requested, wringing his hands in his lap as he sat in the back of a car with Agent Carter and Genevieve. He froze momentarily when he realized what he’d said. “I mean Genevieve- Couls- Miss-  **Ma’am** .”

“Call me Doll all you like, Soldier,” Genevieve replied, reaching out to stop his nervous fidgeting. Her eyes met his, and Steve’s knowledge of the world around them dropped away. “Relax, Steve.”

Steve settled back into the seat with a relieved sigh, the tension uncoiling from his shoulders.

“Thank you,” he breathed, glancing out the window. He chuckled as the realization that he knew where they were struck him. “This is my neighborhood. I got beat up in that alley. And that parking lot. And behind that diner.”

“Did you have something against running away?” Peggy wondered, glancing over at Steve, who had directed his gaze to his lap.

“You start running, they’ll never let you stop. You stand up, push back? Well, they can’t say no forever.”

“We know a little of what that’s like, to have every door shut in your face.”

“I guess I don’t know why you’d want to join the army if you were a beautiful dame. Or a beauti- a woman. An agent. Not a dame. You’re both incredibly beautiful, but-” 

“Steve,” Genevieve cut in, a fond smile on her face. She placed her hand on his arm to silence his stuttering. “I said to relax, didn’t I?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

Her eyes darted over his face, which was pulled into an uncomfortable grimace over his foot-in-mouth syndrome.

“You really  _ don’t _ know how to talk to women, do you?”

“Girls aren’t exactly lining up to dance with a guy they might step on.”

“What about your Soulmate?” Peggy asked, a pleasant smile on her face as she thought about meeting her own Soulmate one day.

“No, Ma’am, no Soulmate.” Steve felt Genevieve’s hand tighten on his arm as the conversation turned towards Soulmates, and he gently patted her hand. “In any case, I got my purpose now. That’s all that matters.”

“Hmm,” Peggy mused, as the car pulled up to an antique shop. “We’re here.”

“Where’s here?” Steve hopped out and held open the door, looking at the building in confusion. It didn’t look like a Laboratory. 

“Follow me,” Peggy ordered, striding through the door as though she owned the place.

An old woman came out of the back room, looking pleasant enough in her pink flowered blouse and her plain brown skirt. “Lovely weather we’re having today, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but I always carry an umbrella,” Peggy replied. Steve’s eyes darted around, taking everything in. It was just an antique shop.

“I don’t get it,” he whispered to Genevieve, who shushed him softly. They continued following Peggy through the shop until they stood at a bookshelf. Steve’s eyes widened as the shelves parted to reveal a huge white room, filled with people and technology Steve had never imagined could exist. In the center, with a man Steve recognized as Howard Stark, stood Dr. Erskine.

“Come on, Steve,” Genevieve murmured, gently pulling him down a set of iron stairs towards Dr. Erskine.

“Good morning,” Erskine greeted gently, shaking Steve’s hand. A bulb flashed, making them both jump. Erskine looked over at the cameraman. “Please, not now.”

Steve swallowed thickly and glanced at the giant machine that looked distinctly Steve-Shaped.

He felt the fear beginning to gnaw away at his insides again, his muscles tensing. He  _ could _ run, right now, and he’d never have to look back. It was a voluntary procedure, after all, he didn’t  _ have _ to go through with this. They’d catch him, and probably lock him away forever, but he didn’t have to do this.

“Ready?” Genevieve’s voice brought him back from his thoughts. He could feel her hand on his arm again, her thumb running over the pulse-point of his wrist gently. She could feel his frantic heartbeat, and knew where his thoughts had gone, and still, she looked at him with the utmost faith in her eyes. “You start now, you’ll never stop,” she reminded, and Steve nodded slowly.

“Yeah, I know. I’m ready.”

“Good.” Erskine gave a firm nod, “Take off your shirt, your tie, and your hat.”

Steve’s fingers immediately went to his tie, pulling loose the knot. His clothes were handed to a nurse beside him, and he moved to lay in the machine.

Genevieve opened her mouth to say something, before Howard Stark swept towards them with a grin on his face.

“If it isn’t my favorite little Mutant!”

“Mutant?” Steve repeated, sitting up just a little. Genevieve’s hand came down on his chest, making him relax back again. Stark gave him a smile laced with just a little confusion.

“You didn’t think people do what she says because she’s a pretty face, did you? Miss Coulson is the real genuine article, a Mutant with the ability to bend people’s will to her own.”

“Genevieve?” Steve wasn’t alarmed, not really. He’d never seen Genevieve convince anyone to do anything morally wrong. Hell, she only ever used her apparent abilities on him when she needed him to relax.

Genevieve’s fingers tapped his chest gently, and she winked at him. “Sometimes it  _ is _ because of my pretty face.”

“Well,” Steve sighed, squirming on the cold table in an attempt to get comfortable, “You are the prettiest dame I ever saw.” Then he closed his eyes in embarrassment. Curse his loose lips! 

“Real smooth operator, this one.” Stark snorted in amusement, making Steve’s cheeks flush.

“Shut up, Stark,” Genevieve scolded, “he’s charming.”

The compliment did not help the condition of Steve’s face. Luckily, Erskine approached them, looking down at Steve with appraising eyes.

“Comfortable?”

Steve gave a nervous laugh, “It’s a little big.” Erskine’s lips pulled up at the corners, and he released a few chuckles. Steve tried not to concentrate on the fact that the scientist also looked nervous. So he swallowed thickly and asked, “Did you save me any of that schnapps?”

“Not as much as I should have.” Erskine said softly, “Sorry. Next time.”

The old man’s face spoke volumes. He was possibly more worried than Steve was. Everyone in the room- the nurses, the doctors, MPs, even Howard Stark- looked about ready to jump out of their skin at the slightest mishap. Everyone except Genevieve, whose hand on his chest remained completely limp with ease. She didn’t look worried in the slightest, which comforted Steve greatly.

“Mr. Stark, how are your levels?” Erskine asked, looking at the young man expectantly. Stark glanced at a machine behind him and nodded.

“Levels at 100%.”

“Good.”

“We may dim half the lights in Brooklyn, but we are ready. As we’ll ever be.”

Genevieve’s free hand smacked him in the chest.

“Howard, that’s the opposite of helpful.”

“Oh, right,” he bobbed his head in a nod. He glanced down at Steve and shrugged. “You’ll be fine, buddy.”

“Genevieve, would you like to join Agent Carter up in the booth?”

Genevieve looked at Erskine and furrowed her brows. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Genevieve...” the exasperation in the doctor’s voice told Steve they’d had disagreements like this before. Genevieve’s stature told Steve that it was an argument she knew she’d win, even without her apparent Mutant abilities.

“Look, Doc, I ain’t goin’ anywhere so you’re just going to have to deal with it.”

“She’s not in the way,” Howard put in, nudging her gently, “I’m fine if she stays and I’m sure the Kid’ll appreciate it, too.”

Erskine glanced at the three young adults and sighed. “Very well. Shall we begin, then?”

Steve took a deep breath, and when Genevieve tapped his chest again, he nodded.

Erskine took up a large microphone that was hooked to the sound system in the room, and flicked it until he heard the resounding feedback.

“Can you hear me? Is this on?” When people turned to look at him, he continued to speak. “Ladies and gentlemen, today we take not another step towards annihilation, but the first step on the path to peace.”

As he spoke, Genevieve removed her hand from Steve’s chest, giving him a comforting smile as she lowered two mechanical arms over his non-existent pectoral muscles.

“I’m not going to lie to you, Steve,” she said, her voice soft under the amplified speech of Dr. Erskine. Her hands were quick as she closed parts of the machine over his body. “This is not going to feel good.” She looked over her shoulder and saw Dr. Erskine looking at her, and she nodded.

The doctor looked back at the viewing booth and continued his speech. “We'll begin with a series of microinjections into the subject’s major muscle groups. The serum infusion will cause immediate change on the cellular level. And then, to stimulate growth, the subject will be saturated with Vita-Rays.”

“Okay, Soldier,” Genevieve said, as nurses started placing vials of blue liquid into the machine, awaiting access to his body, “It’s almost time. Two shakes and it’ll all be over,” she promised. Steve nodded and gave her a weak smile. He winced as a needle was shoved into his arm and something was pushed into his bloodstream. 

“That wasn’t so bad,” he mused, a little breathless. Genevieve’s smile widened slightly.

“That was penicillin.”

Steve’s face dropped. Dr. Erskine joined them again, placing a hand against Genevieve’s back.

“Are we ready?”

“All set, Doc.” Genevieve confirmed.

“Serum infusion beginning in five, four, three...” it was at this point that Genevieve slipped her hand into Steve’s, allowing him to squeeze her fingers tightly in preparation for the pain. “...two, one.”

A switch was flipped, and the blue vials slowly emptied. Steve groaned as cold spread through his entire body, then heat flared up.

“You were right, Doll, this don’t feel great.”

“Two shakes, like I said.”

“Well, maybe you can kiss it better.”

“We’ll see,” she said, and then her hand was gone from his.

“Now, Mr. Stark.”

Genevieve stood back as Howard pulled a lever, which tilted Steve’s table up, closing the two halves of the Vita-Ray machine around him like a sarcophagus. Dr. Erskine knocked on the front.

“Steven? Can you hear me?”

Muffled, Steve replied, “It’s probably too late to go to the bathroom, right?”

Genevieve chuckled softly, shaking her head. Dr. Erskine nodded to himself.

“We will proceed.”

Howard moved to a wheel in the center of his console and began turning it, eyes on the meter above the wheel.

“We’re at 10%...20%...30...” as the percentage of Vita-Rays got higher with each second, the machine in which Steve was encased began to glow, brighter and brighter. Genevieve’s eyes began to squint, looking away, and Dr. Erskine was shielding his eyes with his hand. “40%!”

“Vital signs are normal,” an attendant informed. Howard kept turning the wheel.

“We’re at 50%. 60. 70!”

It was at this moment that Steve began screaming. Horrible, agonized screaming. Genevieve tensed, and took a step forward.

“Steven!” Dr. Erskine began to pound on the machine. “Steven!”

“Shut it down!” Peggy cried, standing at the door to the viewing booth.

“Kill the reactor, Mr. Stark! Turn it off! Kill it! Kill the reactor!”

“No!” Steve’s voice echoed through the room, pain-filled though it was.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Genevieve ran to Howard’s side and caught his wrist. When she was sure she had his attention, she looked towards the glowing machine. “Steve?”

“Don’t! I can do this!”

Howard looked at Genevieve’s face, then over at Erskine. The old man looked conflicted. With a heavy sigh, he kept turning the wheel. “Gen, you better be right about this kid. 80%...90...that’s 100%.”

Immediately after reaching 100%, the console began to spark, and Howard hauled Genevieve away from it as it promptly exploded. The Vita-Ray machine dimmed and then went completely dark, and Genevieve was quick to go back up to the machine, not caring that it was steaming slightly, and clearly hot from the experiment.

“Stark, get this fucking thing open!”

“Aye-aye, Sunshine,” Howard replied, and with a brief prayer that it wouldn’t blow up in his face, flipped the lever to open the Vita-Ray machine.

The two halves slid apart to reveal Steve, glistening with sweat, panting, and much,  _ much  _ larger than he had been when he went in.

“Hey, Steve?” Genevieve placed her hands on his shoulders, having to stretch in order to reach them now. “You okay?”

He stumbled from the machine, eyes still closed, putting his own, now incredibly large, hand on her shoulder. “Has it been two shakes?” 

Genevieve let out a soft giggle, allowing him to lean on her as he regained his balance.

“Yes, Soldier, it has.”

He opened his eyes to see her smiling up at him, eyes bright. On a high from the successful experiment, he grinned down at her.

“And there’s a pretty girl waiting for me.”

“What can I say,” she teased, “anything for my guy.”


End file.
